Cambodia Gambling Rings Trafficking Educated Workers - Report

Cambodian online gambling rings are increasingly targeting educated individuals, exploiting their digital skills for illegal operations.

Those running illegal online gambling rings in Cambodia are targeting more educated individuals, according to a report – exploiting their skills in the booming digital economy. 

A report by Singaporean media giant Channel News Asia (CNA) narrated the ordeal of two Indonesians trafficked into Cambodia’s illegal online gambling operations, which have concurrently been linked to online scams. 

Director of Migrant Care Indonesia Wahyu Susilo noted that most human trafficking victims in Indonesia are young people with high educational qualifications. 

Wahyu said this was part of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, where experts noted a surge in jobless people as businesses shuttered down. 

In an interview with CNA, Wahyu said recruiters lure victims with the promise of programming jobs in the digital technology industry, a facade that hides their involvement in illegal businesses. A report from the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh highlighted that these overseas job offers often require little to no prior experience, making them particularly enticing to vulnerable individuals.

The report also told the story of Slamet, a management graduate and former bank employee lured with the promise of a well-paying factory job in Vietnam. 

The offered salary, a substantial 15 million rupiah (USD$925) plus a “food allowance,” dwarfed the average Indonesian monthly wage of around 3 million rupiah, according to Statista. This targeted his vulnerability after a period of unemployment. 

Instead of legitimate employment, Slamet was trafficked to Bavet, Cambodia, and forced to work for an online gambling operation.

This case underscores a crucial economic dimension of modern human trafficking: the exploitation of skilled labor within the digital sphere. Traffickers are no longer solely focused on vulnerable individuals for low-skilled jobs; they are actively recruiting educated workers for roles requiring specific digital skills, such as managing online transactions, programming, and other tech-driven tasks. 

These roles, often disguised as legitimate tech jobs, offer higher returns for traffickers and capitalize on the victims' existing human capital.

Read related article: China, Cambodia Strengthen Ties Against Online Gambling, Scams